Vance died from esophageal cancer Saturday at his home in Hill Country Village. He was 67.

In junior high, Vance met Vivian Miller, whose father Bill founded the egg and poultry business in 1950 that became Bill Miller Bar-B-Q. After high school, Vance joined the Navy and Vivian went to college. They married in 1964 and had three children.

Though Vance wasn't born into the Bill Miller family, he quickly found a home there.

“He was our brother-in-law, but he was more like a brother to us,” Balous Miller said.

He joined Balous Miller in 1968 working at the second Bill Miller location, on South W.W. White Road. Vance and his wife became partners in the business in 1975, along with her three brothers.

Friendly and quick with a joke, Vance was a natural with people.

“He's like Will Rogers: He never met a stranger, and he never met a man he didn't like,” Miller said.

Work was a constant part of the Vances' lives, recalled his oldest son, Paul Vance. Conversations at holiday gatherings led back to how many pies had been sold and how many turkeys were left over at the Bill Miller stores.

But Vance had other passions. He was a devoted member of St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church and became particularly involved with church retreats.